| I suppose this is to be expected from someone who refers to himself in such grandiose terms as "The Main Adversary", but Mark Newgent is missing the point. I still believe that Montgomery County reaps many benefits from the taxes they pay, and based on the relative wealth in the county, I am not sure how he purports to argue otherwise. Newgent cites what I suppose is an article or column (no link) by Blair Lee, who argues that because Moco pays the majority of state taxes, they deserve the majority of state services. This line of thinking shows a misunderstanding of how government should work. If the government truly worked in the way Newgent and Lee imply that it should, significant portions of the State would see very little state assistance whatsoever. This statewide economic and social catastrophe would find it's way to MOCO, bringing an influx of the poor, looking for the social services they once enjoyed in Baltimore City. Their public schools would be strained to the breaking point, as failing schools in districts in Baltimore City and western Maryland would drive familes to the already overburdened county. |
Lets also not forget that despite it's problems, Baltimore City is still an economic engine, providing jobs to many who live outside it's limits. State funding to support City business, particularly minority and small businesses, if cut to "equal the benefits according to the amount of tax paid" would seriously hamper the Baltimore job market. What it boils down to is that some in the state of Maryland refuse to acknowledge that our state, as all states, is a set of parts that make up a whole. When my tax money goes to pay for Baltimore City public schools, I benefit, despite not having any children. When my tax money goes to pay for cleaning up the bay, I know that it benefits me even though I may never visit the shoreline that was improved. It is a shared sacrifice, and it follows that those who make more will be able to bear a greater tax burden than those who make less. As for my diatribes "against the rich", they are not really against anyone. As someone who gets by on less than $25 grand a year, I find it hard to believe that most people making $200,000/year will be highly inconvenienced. |
